Canadian Vocabulary
Since moving to Calgary, I have discovered that the locals
have a language all to themselves. The following is a list of words and
phrases I often hear while listening to these Canadians. Most of these
are just strange (and wrong) ways to pronounce words, but others are just
really weird. So, without further ado, let's learn how to speak
Canadian.
| eh? |
- This is the most useless word in the Canadian language.
Canadians love to add this word to the end of any sentence, and I guess it's
just to inform the listener that one sentence is over. For instance, a
Canadian might say, "Boy! It's cold outside, eh?" or maybe you would
hear, "So Bob is going to bring the beer over to tonight's
party, eh?". The problem I have with this word is that the sentence
makes perfect sense without it. There is no need to waste your breath on
this word. And that is why I think the word is useless.
Update: In Jan 2007 (about 8 years after I created this page), I got an interesting reply from Karen van der Meer,
a Speech Pathologist in Edmonton. Of course, given my antagostic-style I've received numerous emails over the years,
but Karen provided an explanation that I thought was very insightful:
Saying "eh" at the end of a sentence is saying, "Do you agree?" "Are you with me?" "Still following what I say?"
You may also have noticed that Canadians tend to speak with rising intonation at the end of sentences, a
linguistic phenomenon known as "Canadian rising".
These two elements give the American listener the impression that Canadians are submissive, uncertain, undecided
or equivocal. Americans end declarative sentences with a falling intonation which suggests certainty. (Say
"that's it" with rising and falling intonation and you get the idea)
This offers a partial explanation of continuing perceptions from Canadians that Americans are "hostile", "aggressive", "arrogant" .
Likewise Americans sometimes perceive Canadians as "overly polite", "waivering", "naïve".
Of course, these are generalizations but hopefully are used to better understand and appreciate our differences.
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Here are some other words that I found different:
| Word |
American
Pronunciation |
Canadian
Pronunciation |
| Z |
zee |
zed |
| Celica |
"sell-la-cah" |
"sah-leak-a" |
| Mazda |
"mah-stah" |
"maz-duh" |
| Pasta |
"pah-stah" |
"pass-tah" |
| Decal |
"dee-cal" |
"deck-el" |
| Process |
"prah-cess" |
"pro-cess" |
| Again |
"ah-ghen" |
"ah-gain" |
| Schedule |
"sked-uled" |
"shed-uled" |
| Foyer |
"foy-er" |
"foy-yeah" |
| Lasso |
"lass-o" |
"lass-sue" |
| Been |
"bin" |
"bean" |
| Herb |
"herb" |
"erb" |
Canadians also tend to phrase things differently than Americans. Here are
some of those differences:
| American Version |
Canadian Version |
I'm going to get some coffee.
|
I'm going to get a coffee.
|
Let's sit in the hottub for a while.
We sat in the hottub for a while.
|
Let's have a hottub.
We had a hottub.
|
Cash Register
Check Out
|
Till
|
Napkin
|
Serviette
|
What did you do last night?
|
What did you get up to last night?
|
Well, that's all I've come across for now, but I'm sure I'll come across
some more later.
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